Raised-bed gardening provides multiple benefits for home gardeners. It facilitates a no-till approach, lets one focus amendments and nutrients instead of broadcasting them, makes weeding easier, and — depending on the height of the beds — can even eliminate much of the back bending demanded by field crops. On the downside, it pretty much eliminates … Read more
HIV/AIDS policy in North Carolina simply isn’t working. Despite the strictest eligibility requirement in the country, hundreds of people have waited years for life-saving drugs in our state. Thousands more aren’t even eligible for the waiting list, because they make more than 125 percent of the federal poverty line — a little more than $12,000 … Read more
Here’s to The Peel, and to Jack and Lesley If there is one thing that Jack and Lesley Groetsch know how to do, it’s run a music club. You don’t spend years at the helm of the legendary Howling Wolf in New Orleans unless you can get the job done. Their vision of contributing to … Read more
Hot ticket It’s unlikely that any environmental defense group takes a broader view of our region than SouthWings, a nonprofit conservation organization based in Asheville. SouthWings is the conservation movement’s eye in the sky, providing the skilled pilots (all volunteers) and aerial education needed to bolster environmental efforts across the Southeast. Since its founding, the … Read more
“The higher you go above revenue-neutral, the less efficient you are planning to be.” — Weaverville resident Clarence Young Outside the Buncombe County Courthouse, a picket line wound around and among hundreds of traffic violators — the usual Tuesday night-court crowd — before the Board of Commissioners’ June 20 meeting. Signs, stickers, buttons and hats … Read more
A new strategy for helping the homeless is sweeping the nation. Eighteen months ago, the Asheville City Council and Buncombe County Board of Commissioners signed onto the Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness, making Greater Asheville the 108th urban area to join. Since then, the roster of participating municipalities has swelled to more than 300, … Read more
“The gap between what people can afford and what it costs to get into housing is getting wider and wider.” — Kelly Nossiter, Neighborhood Housing Services Everybody likes the idea of affordable housing when they’re looking for a place to live. But once the focus shifts to things like taxes and public-policy concerns, the consensus … Read more
In a kind of financial dress rehearsal, Asheville City Council members had one last work session to fine-tune the budget for the new fiscal year, which begins July 1. Judging by the discussion on June 20, the $115 million 2006-07 budget was almost put to bed, but a few sticking points threatened to delay formal … Read more
No drought about it: River levels are down in much of Western North Carolina as the region moves through what’s shaping up to be a dry year. Storms come, storms go: Boaters who want to know the minute-to-minute conditions of their favorite stretch of river can visit the Asheville Boating Beta Page (www.boatingbeta.com). The site … Read more
The author takes his bad-ass self down the river. photo by Caleb Coaplen Even if you’ve never been in one, no doubt you’ve noticed the fleet of boats floating around on the tops of trucks and cars here. Asheville is undeniably a boating town, and there are countless river options within striking distance of the … Read more
